Prayers for Peace
The Peace Prayer asks to become an instrument of the peace you're seeking — the Church's characteristic move of praying your way into acting. For peace of heart, Christ's own words in John 14 remain the deepest well.
Traditional prayers
Peace Prayer of St. Francis
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
From Scripture
27Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid.
— John 14, vv. 27, Douay-Rheims · read the full chapter
6Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee.
7Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.
8For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee.
— Psalm 121 (122), vv. 6-8, Douay-Rheims · read the full chapter
9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
— Matthew 5, vv. 9, Douay-Rheims · read the full chapter
Psalm numbers follow the Douay-Rheims (Vulgate) numbering; the common Hebrew numbering appears in parentheses.
Patron saints for this intention
How to use these prayers
Pray it slowly once, then pick the single line you most resist — that line is usually the assignment.